Qatar-based Ooredoo Group’s consolidated revenue in January-June 2017 increased to QAR16.3 billion (USD4.4 billion), an improvement of 2% over H1 2016. In local currency terms, growth was driven by Ooredoo Qatar, Ooredoo Oman, Ooredoo Kuwait, Ooredoo Tunisia, Asiacell (Iraq), Indosat Ooredoo and Ooredoo Maldives, whilst excluding foreign exchange (forex) translation impact, six-month revenues increased by 3% year-on-year, the group added. Group EBITDA increased by 7% to almost QAR7.0 billion in the first six months of 2017 with an improved EBITDA margin of 43%, attributed to ‘strong operational performance and good cost control’. Group net profit attributable to Ooredoo shareholders decreased by 25% to QAR1.0 billion, although it was noted that net profit in H1 2016 benefitted from significant forex gains of QAR540 million (temporary gains which were reversed in the second half of 2016). Excluding the forex impact, net profit in H1 2017 would have been up by 11%.
Ooredoo added that continued strong data growth from consumer and enterprise customers drove data revenue to QAR7.2 billion in H1 2017, equivalent to 44% of group revenue, whilst B2B revenue increased to 17% (QAR2.8 billion) of total group turnover in the six-month period, reflecting ongoing investment in services for business customers.